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Thread: Electrical 101

  1. #1

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    Default Electrical 101

    Seems to be alot of confusion over wiring, amps, loads, contactors, timers and the like, so I thought I would try and cover some of the basics.

    Electricity should be shown a healthy respect, at the end of the day it can kill, and not just from shock, bad wiring can cause fire very easialy. Not the best plan.

    Wiring Basics.

    All wiring should be colour coded (there are a few exceptions, and i'll cover some later) ALWAYS make sure the right colours get connected together.
    Brown/Red = Live
    Blue/Black = Neutral
    Green/Yellow = Earth
    When connecting wires, use appropriate connectors. Junction boxes are ideal as are Central Heating wiring centres, though there are other connectors you can use. At the VERY LEAST use terminal blocks and insulation tape. I'm not recommending that, but bear minimum. Make sure screws are tight, don't leave loose connections. When stripping cable, don't strip to much, and don't damage the remaining insulation.
    Also use the right cable. Flex is ideal, minimum 6mm, 10A rating. Earths should always be connected, if the appliance dosen't require an earth, still connect it to the junction box so the cable lenght is still protected by the earth.

    You also need to be aware of what load your wiring is subject to. Load is measured in Watts (W), it's the amount of power flowing through a circuit. You can work it out using the following equation
    P=IxV where P=Power (watts/W), I=Current (Amps/A) and V = Voltage (Volts/V), as the equipment should be rated in Watts, and we know the voltage, what we need to find is the current, so we re arrange the equation to I=P/V, so 3000w divided by 230v = 13a

    Lets do an example to make it clear, let's say we have 500w of HPS lighting, 50w of Fans, and a 20w Heater. Thats a total of 570w. So 570w / 230v = 2.5a. So your main fuse would be 3a, and your cable and connectors would have to be rated to atleast that. With the exception of fuses, bigger load capacity is better. Fuses should be sized to the circuit.



    Lighting

    There are a few differant types of light used in growing, Flourescent and CFL, HPS and MH. All are ballasted in one way or another. The ballast will draw far more on start up than the rating of the bulb this is called inductive load. General rule of thumb is twice as much. So a 250w bulb ans ballast will draw 500w on startup. Remember to allow for this when working out your ratings, if we go back to the calculation above it works out like this : 1070w/230v = 4.65A, so you would want a 5A fuse.

    Timers

    There are a veriety of timers available, for starters forget the cheap plug through ones, there meant for table lamps etc. By far the best solution is an immersion heater timer. Around £15.00 at electrical wholesalers, should handle around 3kw (3000w) and inductive loads. Max rating around 13a. Perfect for most setups.
    If your timer won't handel the load, your going to need a contactor, this is basically a relay where a low power circuit activates a higher power one. If you need a contactor though it's cheaper to buy a new timer.

    Fans (AC)

    Fans are pretty low power, but still need wiring correctly. Many people seem to think that a dimmer is fine as a cheap fan control. Wrong.
    AC fans are set to work at set voltage (230v) and frequency (50hz) for the UK. A dimmer adds resistance and reduces the voltage. The possibility exists that the fan can stall, the windings then heatup until they either melt, or combust. A fan speed controller reduces the frequency to control the speed of the fan correctly.
    Some fans wiring is not colour coded. If this is the case one wire is live and the other is neutral, it dosen't matter which is which.


    With everything, make sure you follow manufacturers instructions. Keep yourself and family safe, and if your in doubt ask before turning it on.

    I hope people find this useful, and it keeps people safe.

    Mellow
    Last edited by Eggbox; 01-07-10 at 10:11 PM.
    Check out my grows 1st Homegrown (done) and Mellows going for gold

    Quote Originally Posted by Poet View Post
    Using that timer would be like wanking with a handful of razorblades.

  2. The Following 54 Users Say Thank You to MellowYellow For This Useful Post:

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  3. #2

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    Great thread, Mellow Thank you

    Have a sticky

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  5. #3

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    Wow my first sticky, Thanks.

    Just noticed an error in the post, the neutral wire should be blue/black NOT blue/brown. And as Super Mod powers aren't transferable between forums, I'm past time to edit the post. Please could a mod take care of the edit for me. Really don't want someone confusing the colours.

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    Hehe, that would have been a nasty one

    But yes, very well laid out, informative and down to earth guide. Will be referring lots of people to this I'm sure

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    I'll chip in too.

    If you use extension leads always fully uncoil them otherwise they will heat up and can catch fire.

    Always fit an RCD to the plug to cut off the power if there is a short (caused by splashing water around or cutting a cable).

    Do not use damaged equipment, plugs & leads are cheap to replace lives are not.

    Never put more than one set of wires into a plug & never wrap foil round a blown fuse. Always use the correct rated fuse for the appliance.

    Keep power leads away from sources or heat, make sure it doesn't touch the bulb or other hot items.

    Unless it is double insulated (two boxes logo) earth it.

    Keep plugs either outside the tent or well out of the way of water.

    Inspect all plugs, leads, timers at regular intervals and replace anything that is suspect (if a timer or plug gets hot or shows signs of scorching replace it).

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  10. #6

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    Default Preparing Flex

    Flex - stripping
    Trimming back the flex sheath
    Cut carefully through the outer sheath if your flex has one. Some very low voltage flexes consist of only two conductors separately insulated but with no outer sheath.

    Take great care not to cut through into the insulation of the individual conductors themselves. Pull back this outer sheath and trim by folding over the blade of a craft knife and cutting.
    Click image for larger version. 

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    Preparing the flex conductors
    Separate out each of the conductors and strip the insulation back by about 1/2 inch. This is done using wire strippers. These may have preset trimming sizes or adjustable jaw settings. This enables them to trim the insulation without cutting into the conductors. Squeeze the jaws closed around the insulation and draw the strippers back to remove it. A gentle twisting action will make the job easier.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Taking each conductor in turn, twist its separate filaments.

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  12. #7

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    when you say about RCDS on your set up bear in mind that if you have a RCD on ur mains board that will always trip first i found its best if you have a switch'd fuse spur fused down for your supply, when ur useing flex cable you should always double the tails over in what ever termanl. house hold fan can be wired up in .75mm flex normaly for lights its 1.5mm like the above theards never use damaged good and ever in dout just ask .

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  14. #8

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    Any decent posts on the thread topic that aren't just blatantly stolen from other forums will get you some thanks from me - it's a topic I feel needs more reiteration

  15. #9

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    Thank you for this very valuable electrical thread. Should save a few lifes I'm sure

    Definetly worth members clicking on "Thank You" to show there appreciation

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  17. #10

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    So according to this then, there is actually no need for contactors. Everyone says you should have one for anything over 250w lights whereas as mentioned in this post. A immersion timer will negate the need for one.

    Good post man!

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